Margaret BauerFor the second time in as many meetings, Student Union President David Ader questioned the SU Senate’s diligence in its advocacy for student concerns.
On Oct. 6, the Senate discussed the University’s mediocre fire safety rating in the Princeton Review and whether to get involved with improving the rating.
“This is a problem that’s going to solve itself,” Senator Geoffrey Salvatore concluded on fire safety. Other Senators offered cost/benefit analyses supporting the claim that the University should not refurbish old building with fire sprinklers.
Concerning the analyses, Ader said that the senators made them without the required information.
“I’ve seen a lot of speculation and goofing around tonight,” he said at the meeting, before advising Senate to contact relevant administrators to become informed on the issue before making any decisions.
“The people who have firsthand knowledge of an issue haven’t been consulted and so there is a lot of speculation dealing with it,” Ader later remarked. “Ultimately, I would like to see people doing research on the issue, talking to the relevant people before bringing it up in the Senate, which is something I would like to see going into the future.”
At last Wednesday’s meeting, Ader asked each senator to give a progress report on his/her current project, again concerned about Senate’s efficacy.
“I just want to make sure we’re getting someplace,” he explained.
When Senator Aaron Keyak presented his project, Ader commented, “You’ve been doing that since I was AcAff [Academic Affairs] chair.” Ader last held the position in 2003.
Keyak, however, has worked on two major projects since that time. He led the Senate’s involvement with the Student Worker Alliance last year and was active in the College Democrats, preparing for the Oct. 8 debate.
After the progress reports, Ader expressed concern with how the Senate was allocating its time.
“I’ve noticed a lot of bonding events, but we see one or two projects per week. It’s sort of disheartening,” he said.
When asked about his comments later, Ader was less adamant about his disappointment.
“It was coming out of a little bit of frustration of not knowing everything that was going on and going to meetings and hearing about the same projects over and over from the same people over and over,” Ader said. “It was just more to remind people of the job they have to do. I didn’t phrase it as ‘I’m disappointed with you guys, you guys aren’t doing a good job.’ I meant, ‘I want to hear more about this stuff. Maybe we can be more productive if we all hear what’s going on.'”
When questioned about their projects, senators forcefully defended their work. Speaker of the Senate Pamela Bookbinder enumerated many of the projects different senators are working on, including food surveys, getting the night shuttle off campus, compiling a comprehensive list of course requirements, and extending the hours of Whispers Caf‚.
“I think the Senate has been doing a really great job this semester,” Bookbinder said. “I wouldn’t say that he [Ader] rebuked what the Senate was doing. At the Senate meeting this past Wednesday, he asked the senators to go around to say which projects they are working on.”
Christie Norrick, the current chair of the academic affairs committee, discussed some of the projects her committee has been spearheading.
“Our committee is getting quite a few things done. We’ve been brainstorming new ideas on how we can get feedback from students on their different academic concerns. I’ve been in touch recently with the different school councils, although I haven’t heard back from them yet,” Norrick said.